which is senseless in that condition but it is a vigorous judgment sways him to the act and confirms his faculties in working I grant it very difficult at first to believe because of the Enmity of Flesh and the Sophistry of Reason which is Flesh set out in another figure but where Faith gets an entrance there flesh is subdued and reason answer'd the heart comes prepared to embrace Christianity in its hardest terms For this is a Principle that humbles and lays us low and discovers our weakness to our selves It forces us to confess that God has depths of his own we cannot fathom and since we allow our assent to Mysteries in Nature no less ought we to do so to Mysteries in Religion though not to be explain'd by our narrow understanding This was the Apostles case who learnt to submit to the Doctrine that was preach'd and deriv'd from that submission a courage to adhere Let us consider next 2. The Authority of Truth notwithstanding the Opposition of the World God never left himself without witness in the midst of the greatest Apostacies He had Noah to be his Champion in the Old World Elijah in Israel and Apostles in the Infancy of the Christian Church that kept up Religion from perishing Truth and Light have this property common to them both that as they are apt to be clouded so they have vertue to break through those Mists that interpose There is a natural Soveraignty in them both and they seem to be born to an Universal Inheritance though they may be as Strangers and Exiles in some lands yet in others they take the Possession We all know the force of a good title how it prevails If a Prince of undoubted right be cast off by the vile treachery of his own Subjects yet his Title will still rule powerfully possessing the peoples hearts and as strongly warring in the conscience of an Usurper The like command has the Cause of Truth amongst Men and a surer too for a People may be scourg'd by a total loss of their Prince but Gods Faithfulness is ingag'd to maintain the Dominion of the other He that created and established all things by the word of his power has spoken this that Truth shall for ever endure and in order to accomplish what He has spoken he employs his Spirit to work gives us natures inquisitive and reflecting whereby we are stirred up to the duties of Piety so that as long as the Spirit abides which is eternal as long as Reason and Conscience last which are essential to our frame the Characters of Religion must for ever remain Whether it be of the Essence of Gods Church to be always visible I shall not discuss but the foundation upon which it is built can certainly never fail since He is God that is laid there For other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Should we now on the other side consider the growth of Error and the fair show it makes in the world we cannot conclude hence that it has strength to continue For strength presupposes a real existence in the Subject whereas Error is of it self a meer nothing and ows to Ignorance that it appears It is a Ghost that walks in the dark whose body is fram'd by our fancies and when day comes it vanishes with them But to Truth a being pertains and it constantly strives to open its way into Light to reveal that Being to others which when effected it gloriously spreads and enlarges its Empire with that discovery Before I pass to the second Head of my Discourse I shall briefly dispatch one Quere which is this Why Simon Peter that singly spoke here should so readily proclaim his own Faith and undertake likewise for the Faith of the Apostles though a Judas was of their number Now the reason of this I can only resolve into those Two Graces wherein he excell'd Zeal and Charity The one made him forward in a publick Confession of himself the other in a Defence of his Brethren Zeal is a fire that will be sure to get uppermost whence our Apostle being heated with it comes out first for his Lord but then lest the ambition of that act should urge him to pursue his own Glory he religiously suppresses it by his Charity to others It is the nature of Charity to be kind and free from envy not to seek her own but anothers praise It treats all persons alike except some visible fruits do distinguish them and brings a Garment along with it of an equal breadth to hide every right Professor in a word it is a generous Vertue enobling our works of piety and making us beneficial to the world This was the temper of our blessed Apostle whom many are prone enough to imitate for his Zeal but if this latter Grace be wanting they ought to suspect the birth of that flame since the true Gospel-fire that comes down from Heaven has a comforting warmth in it that heals and tends not to kill but to save I come now to my Second Head where we have 2. The reason of their choice drawn from the singular Excellency of Christs Teaching Thou hast the words of Eternal Life It might be expected that poor Fishermen as these were should have had Souls as low as their Trade that they should be far from conceiving and farther yet from pursuing a state of eternity whose great end and business before was but the small gain of a draught neither knew they how to prize any greater wealth than what a Lake or a Brook contains But see how Religion exalts them what high thoughts are now form'd and what vast desires are rais'd in them by the force of their Masters Discipline so that they begin to despise a present Good and breath after nothing but a future Reward Temporal Dominion was below their aim for who can imagine they should propound to themselves an Earthly Monarchy that stuck only to Christ for an Invisible Crown Truly the manner of his appearance in this our Flesh and the nature of his Doctrine taught them no other His appearance was so mean that it was but the form of a Servant which He assum'd Agen his Doctrine was so spiritual that He challeng'd only a Kingdom distinct from the World Joh. 17.36 Luke 9.2 and sent only his Disciples upon that Errand to preach it But the Pretended Successors of St. Peter who here follows his Lord for his Heavenly Ministry can arrogantly pursue a worldly claim as if Earth were in their Charter as well as Heaven and therefore they ought to take both by violence pull down Kings and Princes and advance themselves to an arbitrary Greatness Whose Apostles I pray are they that would thus rule or by what right of donation do the Kingdoms of the world belong to them For we do not read they were any of those Gifts Christ gave unto men but onely the Devils offer 4 Mat. 8. which He rejected I
I answer not immediately from his Satisfaction but from the time of our rightly believing in him We are justified by his Blood in one sense and we are justified by faith in his Blood in another His bloody Death procur'd for us the Pardon which is nothing else but putting us into capacity of being pardoned but True Faith applies the Pardon to the Soul whereby we actually enjoy it How Faith here will be understood may be found out by comparing two places of Scripture namely Acts 10.43 with Acts 3.19 In the one it is said Whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins in the other Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that True Faith is the Principle of a new life the beginning of Sanctification when the Heart is resign'd up to God and with sincere resolutions turns to him No Faith can justifie us but as Faith that thus worketh for as God will take no unsanctified person to his Glory so neither will He seal to him in that condition pardon of sin here which is the earnest of that Glory Trust not then to his Wounds if thou bearest not the marks of them in thy Soul rely not on his Death if sin in thee be not crucified They were Reprobate Jews that turn'd his Passion into a Sight and came off not wounded but true Christians are pierced with beholding him and find it operative upon their lives Should we be justified without doing any thing on our part obedience to Gods Commands would rather be a Gift than a Debt whereas the Gospel enjoyns it us as necessary to please Him let us then so come to his Grave as not idly to bury our selves there for we are but dead men in doing so neither will our Master be found since the Angel can tell us He is not there but is risen whence we ought not to rest in that place but go forth to seek him All the vertue that is in the Sepulcher comes out to those that rise and resemble him who is risen That like as he was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father so they likewise might walk in newness of life Thus much for the First Observable I proceed to handle the Second Proposition II. That there are proper and peculiar Advantages in Christs rising above that death yea rather is risen again All the time Christ slept in the Grave was a time of gloominess and thick darkness but here God speaks as he did in the old Creation Let there be light His rising bring us day and the joyes of it wherein Death has lost all its spoyls and Life his victory Sin has spent all its force and Mercy triumphs the Synagogue it self ends and our Church begins A Day very pleasant in the speculation but may no doubt come in that it is artificially fram'd and devised by Christians Truly doubts cannot be hindred where corruption and infidelity so much reigns but the reason of our doubting is taken away by the clear evidence that is given us of his Resurrection If you ask what that is behold it is grounded upon Prophets that fortell Eye-witnesses that confirm and God himself attesting the truth of both by the power of his Spirit that worked in the Preachers to make this Point undeniable To the Prophets St. Acts 2. Peter appeals for convincing the Jews and St. Paul makes it a standing proof how He rose again according to the Scriptures 1 Cor. 15.4 Eye-witnesses are produc'd to convince the Gentiles not onely a few Women and Apostles whom he had chosen but Five hundred Brethren at once and those He appear'd to were not so much considerable for their number as for their nicety in believing men that had scruples of sense which kept them from being deceived as well as scruples of concience which kept them from deceiving others The first of these is manifest from hence That they would not thoroughly believe He was risen though they saw him till they were convinc'd by the very touch the latter is cleer from that Doctrine they embraced which forbad the least sin and how can we imagine they durst propagate a Cheat under all discouragements when they knew they not onely ran the hazard of losing their Lives as they did by professing him but their Hopes too of a better life the onely Anchor of their Profession from which a Lye would certainly exclude them Add to this the Spirit they received the Wonders they wrought and the Success they had in their Ministry when their Doctrine spread through the world from poor naked beginnings meerly by the force of this Article it shows the Body of their Master was not stoln away as the Keepers absurdly reported but that God himself was risen to defend them These things well consider'd if they amount not to Demonstration yet afford so rational a proof as will engage our assent to the Truth and convince us of folly in denying it Now the Advantages of Christs Rising above his Death have a double aspect for they either relate to Christ or to Us. First to Christ and so the Dignity of his Resurrection is seen in these Particulars 1. It justified the Innocence of his Humanity When Christ was laid hold of and carried away to be condemn'd by the Jews then his very Cause seem'd to be given up It was counted criminal with them that He would submit to an Arrest and a sufficient evidence to make him a Malefactor that He did so tamely yield to the Trial. But when He endured the Sentence to be pronounced went patiently to his Cross and suffer'd his Body to be fastned with the nails as if He had the guilt of a Slave with the punishment here was the Hour to overcome Truth and the Power of darkness to cover him who is the light of the world But his Rising from death removed that Eclipse cleard that Innocence by the distinction it made of his Fate when the Vileness of his Execution gave Authority to the Charge This caused such boldness in Peter to plead for his Master and return the fault upon his Persecutors which He was so guilty of himself Ye have denyed the holy one and the just Acts 3.14 and he proceeds farther to aggravate their Crime and maintain the righteousness of his Cause by that convincing Argument of Gods raifing Vers 15. him from the dead Now it is easie for any one to conclude that had our Lord been an Impostor or an evil doer he could not rise such kind of men would surely rot in the Grave and know no other Resurrection than that of the last Day to a worse Judgment because for God to punish them with Death here and allow them presently to rise that so they might confirm their own followers in those Errors they taught and those Evils they practised here a work of Divinity would be employed to destroy the true worship of it which is a flat contradiction to his Goodness
reproof which God delivered against Israel Your destruction is of your selves May we not apply what he had spoken against Jerusalem What could have been done more for my Vineyard that was not done For he has taught us by his Word awakened us by his Rod invited us by his Bounty offered himself to us by his Grace while we desperately forsake our own mercy Even the worst of men taste of his Goodness They find his Spirit in their Consciences to check in their Minds to guide in their Wills to allure them he wooes he sollicits he waits all our Faculties he besets that he might draw us over to the Government of his Laws He is always free and communicative of his Treasures but it is mans guilt cuts off the spring Tax not then the Method of Gods proceedings that summons into an extraordinary Court the gross abuser of his Talents but reflect sadly upon the sinfulness of thine own ways that causes Grace to alter its shape and the face of a Saviour to be transfigur'd with darkness I shall close this point with an Inference from the whole I suppose none will expect in this place I should attempt a description of Divine Wrath which though it be revealed from Heaven is yet hid in the manner of execution So Lightning is discerned by its brightness when it strikes though the way of its working is not seen How the Fire below by an Almighty breath will be kindled and yet kept by the same breath from consuming the Sinner it is not for us to explain but certainly the Wound the Smart the Plague is intolerable where-ever the weight of Gods Justice falls And they of all men will feel its burden that bring Light to their punishment whereby they are forced to acknowledge the double calamity they are prest with namely Wrath not to be shunn'd and Sin not to be pleaded for Here the Sword cuts deep enters the very marrow and spirits and renews continually its edge with piercing Who is able to meet Vengeance in its assaults and Light in its convictions Is not their force strong nay irresistible where they come Behold the one makes and the other quickens our Hell the one binds us fast and the other heats our Furnace I know the Theme I now insist on is not suited to a Scoffers ear because not suited to his designs What have we to do says an Epicure with a warning of Gods Justice that chastises all our delights and mingles gall with our pleasures If Religion must be preached up let Grace and Mercy be revealed Those have a healing quality in them and like Beds of spices refresh with their opening but Treasures of Wrath and the Pains of another World these like noysome pits do punish us in our searching Thus he would secure his way of sinning to himself and remove all sting from his conscience But alas his arts are in vain were he freed from any outward sounds of the Ministry of the Word yet his mind is still checked with a future Judgment and by fits submits to the Revelation Indeed how can it be otherwise for the notions of God and his Justice are twisted together in our Souls and the same impression that convinces us of his Being convinces us too of his Wrath against sin nothing remains but that the eternity of it appear and when that is effected the Soul necessarily yields and witnesses its surrender by those pungent acts of reflecting We suppose now adayes Atheism to abound and fortifie that supposition by our frequent discourses to confute it but if there be such a Leprosie amongst Christians it does not so much seize the head as the heart which is the seat of the Devils Disease and he cares not to spread it farther in his Children All our crime is not that Divine Characters in us are lost but only hid in our souls Truth we bury by our practice though we feel it lives to our torment And God grant we be not punished for our Ingratitude with outward darkness by a removal of his Candlestick from amongst us Do we now pride our selves in this that we enjoy mercy but let us also regard the dangerous neighbourhood of Vindictive Justice when that Mercy is despis'd What Attribute is there can rescue us from the stroke when Goodness will not defend Is it Power we may flee to but that determines it self to destroy Is it Wisdom but that contrives the way of destroying Is it Holiness but that justifies the proceeding whence Goodness alone is the security of the Sinner That Altar of Refuge God himself has set up to stop the course of his own Vengeance And yet even here we are not safe because our abuse forfeits the Privilege all the protection of it is lost through our stubbornness of offending whereby we become guilty of a mad Sacrilege when we pull down the Sanctuary that might save us There is no sin so aggravating as what strikes at God in an Evangelical Revelation for here we offend against his last and best method of drawing us to him You are all diggers in Truths Mine and have your toyl paid with those pleasures you find there but where ought it to be seen in its greatest beauty if not amongst those that chiefly discover it All kind of Truth has charms upon its face to get Lovers but the Truth of Religion has a Divine Image upon it to win Souls and an Eternal Dowry to hold them Blind are we if we resist absurd if we refuse such a Temptation The Duty I here press is very seasonable for the Object you see deserves Love ay and the courage of Love to pursue it How can Lusts or Fears take room in a Christian that has such high Motives to govern him Propound to thy self Good and Evil in their full latitude here swell them to their biggest bulk dress them in their choicest colours and shows they sink to nothing with a religious comparison Heaven melts away all the paint of a present delight and Hell renders all the Vizards of outward danger contemptible so that neither the one nor the other can stir a passion in the Soul when our thoughts are well planted Therefore if either the Mercy of a God can move or the Wrath of Almighty can bind us if the Scepter of Grace can perswade or the Lightning of Justice terrifie if Life if Death be of any moment to us let us be fast maintainers of the Truth and commend our Profession to the world by that Infallible stamp of our lives The Second Discourse 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these Promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God IN the last verse of the preceding Chapter to which these words chiefly refer we find what a gracious promise God makes to his People when He assures them if they separate from sin in what a glorious manner He will receive them allowing them the noblest Privilege a
and our Hope the one freeing us from all jealousies of a deceit the other from all dread of a disappointment How can we distrust or fear Gods failing us that is every way qualified to save First the Covenant He makes is fram'd by his Love then Truth writes it down afterwards Power comes in to seal up the Assurance so that no room is left for any doubt or scruple since all his Promises are sure nor will Mans expectation ever shame him if Sin does not the onely blot of our hopes as well as the stain of our pleasures Nothing but Sin can possibly defeat us it is Sin which undermines all our Blessings alters our claim and property in Bliss and gives the Threatnings in Scripture Authority to succeed In him the Promises are Yea and Amen that is firm and stedfast and when we fall off by a wilfull Apostacy their stedfastness still remains in their own nature only the benefit of Application is lost to Us. But if we once turn to our God by a true Repentance if we approve our worship of him by the sincerity of our hearts and the holiness of our lives lo they are firm and stedfast to us also God cannot in that case exclude us from Heaven for we bring him the condition of happiness he requires from us we produce the Grace that leads thither and know it is impossible He should either deny his own terms or refuse the likeness of his Perfections The last thing to be considered in Gods Promises is That He has provided against all Temptations from other offers by dispersing a Vacuum in things and leaving nothing here below fit to stir or move us except you 'l say defect of Substance and want of Certainty are charms Were any Good upon Earth adequate to our souls had it worth and certainty to attract our desires then I grant we might justifie the byas of our inclinations that way because the vifibleness of what is offer'd us is a farther motive to turn them thither but when vanity nay vanity of vanities is superscrib'd upon all the Creation here is not the least colour for our adherence What is there I pray in this World can be exhibited to us but some Scenes of Good and Images of an Inheritance Thus Christ by the Great Tempter was entertained with Landskips and Shows and Kingdoms that were drawn in Airy Figures where the Delight could not recompence the Emptiness of the Prospect The like emptiness is spread through every thing here and for any one to reckon upon a setled Possession it is like casting anchor upon a wave or binding the wheels of Times motion In a word such a Task that has an impossibility in the Act to baffle the Design But where the Promises are of God there is weight and stedfastness to perswade us weight that can fix all the extravagancy of desire and stedfastness strengthen our patience of expecting Thus you see the force of the Motive to confirm that Inference he makes from it I proceed now to handle in the second place 2. The Duty which contains in it the best Preparations for receiving those Promises Let us cleanse our selves from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit Where we may take notice 1. Of the Act Cleanse 2. Of the Subject about which it is employ'd Flesh and Spirit that is Body and Soul so that a thorough Baptism of the whole man is required and such a washing in the Fountain of Repentance that purges away inward and outward defilements 1. The Act is remarkable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us cleanse a word mentioned in the Heathen Schools by way of Speculation but prescribed to the Jewish and Christian Church as a rule of Practice The Heathens were not altogether ignorant of it when they styled Vertue it self to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Cleansing which the Platonists give us this account of namely That it is a retirement of the Soul within and a separating from the Body in its motions when Reason acts freely and undisturbedly nor has any tincture from the Passions to defile it such a state say they of the Soul is pure and divine This I confess may in some sort be call'd a Purgation but it is very defective in another sense where they suppose no guilt to be washed off which both Soul and Body have contracted They regard onely a refining of the Intellectual Powers but seek no purifying of any sinfull uncleanness And this must be chiefly imputed to that natural pride they all had that they would not allow of a corrupt spring as we must owe it wholly to their ambition that they studied to advance Reason in its actings therefore the Fountain of sin being unsearch'd we cannot admit them for Judges here but ought to consult the Jewish and Christian Church for the true notion of Cleansing In the Jewish Church the outward Ceremony was enjoyn'd but withal Typical of the inward whence we read in Exodus of an express Command before the delivery of the Law That they should sanctifie themselves and wash their cloaths from which Precept their Doctors gather that Tenet and Custome they had for Baptizing all whom they admitted to their Church and Covenant Now that they should thus be wash'd in order to receive the Law that was published it argued both a greatness of guilt in the parties and an absolute necessity of repenting when not so much as a spotted Garment was allowed to be near that Mount that quaked and trembled lest the Lightnings of the place should break forth to consume and the Trumpet there heard proclaim nothing but Execution If such a preparation were requisite for hearing Gods Will much more was it for obeying whence those Sacrifices of old He commanded were first to derive their cleanness from the Offerer and so had their force of Legal Attonement Were the Offerer not sanctified beforehand all his Worship was spoil'd by reason of the spots and blemishes that overspread it The foulness of his hand laid a Curse upon the Expiation and by slaying the Beast he destroy'd the Sacrifice Therefore a strict way of Cleansing was observ'd in the outward man whereby God led them to the Spiritual Duty as he taught them by Temporary Promises to have a taste and rellish of the Heavenly And lest they should at any time forget what was signified their Purifyings were frequently repeated on them representing to them in the same washing New Guilt and a New Obligation But the Christian Purifying is of a higher nature as being outwardly but once to shew We are buried with Christ by Baptism into Death that like-as He was rais'd from the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life Here is no need of sprinkling Garments and Vessels nor of separating from the Camp upon an Uncleanness when the whole work of Holiness is fully exhibited and one solemn Rite introduces the performance The work divides it self into two parts
according to the division of mans nature whereof the first is 1. A cleansing from the Filthiness of the Flesh And good reason is there to begin with it For though Sin be properly the Souls act yet by the Body it first appears nay this Body of ours being joyned with the Soul becomes rather a Minister than an Instrument in its working such a Minister that continually provides fewel for the Hearts lusts and makes the corruption of them visible to the world If then the Murdering Sword be justly cast off and the Cup broke whereby the man hath been poyson'd how much more ought this Principle of Flesh to be cleansed and subdued that so deeply shares in the Souls guilt and proves an active Executioner in it ruine I need not mention the several works of it which the Apostle tells us are manifest because they discover themselves with outward stains and inward impressions upon the consciences of men Those acts of the outward man that express themselves in worshipping an Idol in Murder Sacrilege Revellings Lasciviousness and the like pollute the Body that commits them and convey farther the taint of that pollution to the Soul Nor can Men with all their art so colour and disgrace what is convey'd there as that the nature of its deformity should be changed but the Corruptions of Flesh will still abide frightful even in the midst of their Conquest Sin then carrying its own Conviction the great Query is How we should purge it But to this the Assistance of Grace and Mans Resolution is required the former will not fail if the latter be present nor will the latter be wanting if Gods Promises be the Object Where these are stedfastly beheld they will surely melt and dissolve us powerfully break our rocky hearts and engage us anew in a Life of Holiness Goodness is commanding in its own nature and enthrones it self in Mans Will nor needs it other force for keeping its Soveraignty but what it continually carries by charming the affections And this Goodness is fully seen in Gods Promises all the Vail is taken off which is generally cast upon Providence and instead of glimpses and half-lights we are allowed a full discovery of their glory such a one in its working that can joyn surprize delight and victory together For all the Graces of a Saviour are here shown and al the Riches of Eternity are here manifested which must needs take away the resistance of Flesh provided we be fixt in our Contemplations Why then are we not serious in weighing these things why does not Love nor Mercy constrain us I am sure no carnal Temptation can be endued with such strength It is seated in Flesh which is weakness and only conquers that Heart which is unprepar'd The Question that was put to Pyrrhus when he had in his head the design of conquering many Kingdoms may be put to the pursuers of Sin in those various forms and fashions of Appetite what it is they intend by all the Travel they make through a World of Corruption Perhaps they will say as he did when we have compassed our designs we will the be quiet and live to our selves but to this the reply is strong and forcible why will they not be quiet now and live to themselves in a service of their God when that knowledge of evil they seek after is purchased with trouble and manifest danger of their Souls Therefore whether we would consult our own Interest or witness our Gratitude to God for his Promises we are bound to be resolute and speedy in the cleansing of this Flesh which at the best is but a burden and sin gives it a farther weight to crush and destroy us But that we may perform this Duty aright Two Rules are to be observed by us which are here intimated in my Text. 1. That the Object of our cleansing be all Filthiness of the Flesh 2. That the work which refers to it be so effectual as that no Filthiness should return The first of these is necessary because indeed without it there is no cleansing for wherever Filthiness is but in part washed off the whole is still denominated impure Who will call that Body sound where the disease shifts places but is not altogether removed No more can we call that Flesh cleans'd where Vice changes its seat but never loses its commanding power It is true an Hypocrite may look fair in the worlds eye after a superficial purging of some corruption but that cheat he puts upon others alters not the uncleanness of his own temper The Character of things remain fixt how changeable soever be mens Judgments It is said of Myriam the Leper that she appeared white as snow but none could conclude from that whiteness any thing except the malignancy of her disease where the mass of blood being tainted the Body became wan and pale like a Dead Carcase Such is the whiteness of some Professors in those half-acts of outward Purity It is but a Leprous Hypocrisie which argues deadness and rottenness within But in Gods and Scripture account none are truly clean in the outward man but those that purge out every thing which defiles it in whom the health and complexion is found by a vigorous expelling of all corruption In these the Spirit truly worketh and they show their sanctifying Principle to rule in them by an universal effect that follows it For thus Gods Spirit acts in Believers diffusing its vertue through all parts nor can any deed pass it uncleansed But when men solely act by their own spirit which has a partial influence then they single out some enormous Vice some provoking Goliah to kill which were a happy Conquest did it make an impression upon the gross of an Army but alas here execution is done and not at all followed with any weakning in the Body Again the second is necessary because a Relapse into Filth spoils the fruit of the former cleansing and withal doubles the stain Therefore to prevent a guilt of that kind in this Body of flesh it must be our continued work to subdue it The only way to assure us of Sins Death is by persevering to destroy its Dominion that Sampson within must be continually shav'd nay the razor must pierce deep to the very roots otherwise his strength is not gone Little severities upon a remorse are no better than a Drunkards soberness in his qualms which he then dies to but not to his sin short penances upon check are but an Adulterers Whip whereby he lets out Blood to cool a present Burning but not to end the Disease O the Art of a Professor in thus subduing his carnal motions when he chooses for a while the method of Rigour only to give him ease in new sins Many can turn Hermits that way with whom a suspence of their lust is but a preparative to fresh vigour they endure much to sin more and make use of hardship to become helpful to their corruptions as Frosts and Snows
with that contemplation no more than we are with the prospect of Shores and Havens that receive us safe from a Storm How is the soul quieted to think that those evils it suffers are passing away and a settled rest is prepared With what peace does it apprehend a moments danger when a perfect Liberty is the recompence This and much more does a blest Eternity import and through that encouragement is a Christian arm'd to encounter any affliction And so we read what a stoutness of spirit was rais'd in the Primitive Professors that preach'd up Christianity and ventur'd all upon it A bare Faith did not carry them to that act but a Faith that was grounded upon the Heavenliness of the Doctrine Courage of Martyrs and Power of Miracles strong Promises that will infer as strong Conclusions except wee 'l say Heaven and Earth were combin'd together in a plot to abuse and the abuse too must be this viz. a cheating of an Idolatrous world into good living Let the Scoffer count it madness to quit Sense for a Good that is yet hid from him I could tell him that even a Present Good is invisible for we want time to discern it for its shortness we want a Substance to be discern'd for its emptiness whereas an eternal one is invisible for its transcendent fulness Thither does right Reason drive us and a true principle of Self-love it being our interest to seek a Treasure that will not fail us But should we take the opposite state to This Life namely Eternal Death which is the Curse he threatens to those that deny him here we are ty'd to our Masters service by a sure chain which the dread of Omnipotence puts on Earthly Powers can awe their Subjects and justly too with what they are able outwardly to inflict yet Death being the utmost stroke of that Justice seems indeed but a retreat from it But the Grave how free and quiet soever it be is no Sanctuary to keep us from Gods hand It dissolves our Bodies but not his Government who watches every particle of our dust and locks it up safe for an after-summons but the Soul He makes the the immediate subject of his Tribunal Therefore the highest homage may be well demanded of us upon whom the highest Soveraignty is shown I confess none come up from the dead to tell us this news no they cannot for the Judges Sentence binds them to their seats where their great part is suffering and if they could 't is useless no ways tending to settle our Faith but rather confirming our suspicion that in Satans Errand some Ghost may be employed If Scripture which St. Peter calls a light that shineth in a dark place be with all its evidence of Divine Witnesses disown'd how can we believe a testimony from the Damn'd that would be sure to bring with them all their night to deceive This then can be no objection The true one is form'd by our own corrupt hearts and we are apt to question the Evil-day because we would not be checkt nor controll'd in our finning In the mean time we baffle that design by starting such a doubt which unsettling the soul in its pleasures does thereby hinder it from enjoying them We labour to be Scepticks that we may offend and after we are so we find our selves pain'd with that Uncertainty Oh let us be wise for our latter end and choose to serve our God by a true Faith since our endeavouring to shake it does but wake Conscience to torture us Hitherto I have handled the Argument St. Peter lays down for following his Lord and by the way toucht upon the Sinners Judgment I have shown the nobleness of Faith the authority of Truth and the excellent manner of revealing it by Christ above all those discoveries that were made The natural result from all is this that we would seriously inquire whether we can better our life under another service and if that be not possible then immediately list our selves his Disciples in all the watchfulness of Devotion As to the matter of Inquiry it becomes us as men not to take any Master upon trust or the custome of others Credulity is proper to Children that are weak and want sinews but the strength of Wisdom consists in this to prove all things and not be easily govern'd in our actings Yet this childish weakness are most men subject to in their main end when they relinquish their own Faculties that would lead them to Christianity and suffer themselves to be led by a Customary Discipline that destroys it What that teaching is and how far it extends every one knows The mind is not taught here but the brutish part and some transient reward propounded to encourag it Transient I call it with respect to those two Masters that rule over us Flesh and the World which pretend to nothing higher in their offers of Good for all the colour they have to invite us is only the gratifying of our senses for a few moments onely Satan makes bold to counterfeit our Lord and wears his shape in a full promise that so his hook may the better fasten and catch our appetite when he tempts us He has therefore in readiness for his followers words of Eternal Life as he had for Eve but those very words prove fatal for with the same breath he kills the Sholar that hears him What other effect can be look'd for from a Serpent condemn'd who delights in the spreading of his plague and knows no other liberty from torment than that pleasure he takes in enlarging his Hell To this end he continues down the poyson of that Doctrine Eat and live sin and be happy in the mouths of his False-Prophets who are very busie to reconcile Faith with an Evil Conscience and would fain compound up a Religion of Flesh which are arts indeed to draw many after them in regard they bribe their Sensuality But let us see the issue of all this and what fruit there is in obeying such Doctrines when the Good there promised is blown away with our breath and instead of light we find darkness On the contrary under Christs rule we have an Eternal Life tendred to us in all certainty and the condition He requires of us is an excellent part of that Life since it gives us a proper Eye to enjoy it The condition I mean is Purity of Heart a Grace that doubly profits the Soul first in refining our natures next in strengthening us to see Glory Who would not endeavour to be thus qualified for Heaven Can any corruption move us to forfeit Security and can there be greater security than the Good here promised Mans Knowledge you will grant is much exalted in foreseeing future things but his Reason is more advanc'd in pursuing them And whither would we go from our Lord Other Offerers of happiness do betray us He onely can save To him Nature has subjected us as being made Gratitude as being redeem'd Interest as
Wilderness whence he never return'd but Christ that bore the sins of the World and entred the Wilderness not inhabited the Grave came out thence to bring us the news of his Expiation and so made us certain of the benesit It was not enough with him to work our Redemption except we were further enlightned to know it Thus He doubled the mercy of that act when we whose state He recover'd by dying had our Fears too heal'd by his Resurrection 2. It is an efficient cause of our rising with an identity of Body as He rose for we fall not in respect of our Souls but our Bodies if therefore the same Body does not rise the notion of a Resurrection is destroyed This power and right He has to raise us is part of that Dominion he receiv'd when He rose whereby He became Lord of the Dead as well as the Living Rom. 14.9 and He gave a pregnant instance of it at his rising when He caus'd the Stone to be remov'd not onely from his own but from others Sepulchers for He had many Bodies of Saints with him They had long before slept in the dust and perhaps were so far from being dry bones that the question might be put Can this dust live yet were they quickly fashioned in the earth and built up by vertue of their Masters breath to attend him in his Triumph If our rising be later than theirs yet it is as sure for in him says the Apostle shall all be made alive He is become the First-fruits of them that slept Now the First-fruits do not so go before other Fruits but that they are in being though not brought to the same maturity so though the Resurrection of the Dead be not ripe yet it really is begun because Christ is risen Whatever alterations befall us in death they are but changes of Figure no particle of us is lost the very least mite of our Frame is put into the Treasury whence it will be one day taken out and restored An excellent privilege Christs Members enjoy to be thus quickned by their Head otherwise the benefit of their reconciliation were small had he not proved their Life as well as their Sacrifice It is a poor stopping of the Plague to enter the Gulfe and not keep it by that Entrance from swallowing but to open it that it shall yield up its dead and no longer devour them here is a rich Atonement All our hopes depend upon the success of such an Undertaking which we have confirmed to us by the rising of our Lord who has abolisht Death broken the tyranny of that Oppressor and made it a Servant to convey us to Glory But this is all upon supposition that we are qualified for his Members then we are raised by a Power inherent in us whence we receive the influence of salvation if we are no part of his Body we shall however be raised but by a power without us the power of a Judge that will sit over us as Slaves and pronounce the Sentence of Execution Therefore the carnal liver can take no pleasure in this word Rise 't is like a Rack to stretch his limbs on and represents to him all his parts new set that they may be fitted for torment All his joys are plac'd in a life here which is the Senses Portion but the life of another world cuts him in reflecting on it as a Curse that is attended with pain Would we then make it our interest to rise let us live like Children of the Resurrection purge out all corrupt humours of Flesh and Blood mortifie our lusts keep our Souls pure and our Bodies clean that when they are quickned they may be raised to those Heavenly Mansions where the Honours of the Place the delights of Vision and the cloathing of Immortality will satisfy our utmost desires and show us the vanity of this Worlds good that holds us 3. It has procur'd the Assistance of Gods Spirit whereby we are sanctified and enabled to obtain the Promises of Eternal Life Had not Christ rose the Comforter had not been sent indeed the promise of the Holy Ghost was made before but it was shed upon none till after his Rising Then we read of his breathing upon the Apostles Joh. 20.22 which showed the Authority He had to bestow it and the Gifts that should afterwards follow upon his Ascension How necessary the coming of the Spirit was and consequently how great the Advantage of his Rising will appear in this That thereupon Ministers were impowred Wonders wrought a Church gathered and the Word made so powerfull in the hearts of the hearers that they were not able to resist the Doctrine of the Resurrection whereof the Apostles were ordain'd to be Witnesses See this exemplified in St. Acts 1.22 Peters first Sermon on that Subject which the Spirit accompanied with such efficacy that those who heard it were pricked to the heart and the same day there were added to them about three thousand Souls Where by the way the Temper of these new Converts is remarkable for it is said They continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers They were no lovers of Novelty or Schism but close adherers to the Truth and united together in Worship A rich Draught this which Peter had figur'd out to him in a former one when he drew the Net to land full of great fishes and for all there were so many yet was not the Net broken By the same Spirit Christ still rules in his Church in order to mens Conversion whose work is to enlighten and convince us by the Word to prevent us by his Grace in all our doings to encline our wills and further them in good without which assistance we could never by any natural strength of our own either rightly believe or repent and so be made capable of the Promises I have here given a short view of the Benefits of Christs rising which if we compare with the Vertue of his Death we shall find good reason for that Emphasis in the Apostle Yea rather is risen again What are the proper effects of each I have already mention'd How his Death in particular contributes but more eminently his Rising to the Saints freedom from Condemnation may be easily collected from what I have said so that I need not handle my Third Particular therefore I shall now onely in a few words apply this Truth to our selves Gods Justifying Grace we read in the former verse is restrained to his Elect or which is all one his peculiar people that are zealous of Good-works the Benefits of Christs dying and rising are restrained likewise to the same persons For He is become the Author of Salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 Others are excluded from that Purchase whence this Point obliges us to a duty of working that as He died to Nature and rose again in the Body so we might dye to Sin